Day 17 – So Behind with Blogging!

Troubles with the internet and with my motivation but not with the goal. I am still eating better and on a more regular basis. Only had pasta for one dinner and one lunch out – both times, small portions. Limited the stops at the local hamburger joint. Not yet bored with the food supply in the refridgerator – but recognize that I will have to shop again soon, but so far with a minor exception for the fish (below) the food I bought the first weekend is still lasting. Groovy.

So let’s attempt to catch up … From Thursday evening through Sunday, I ate a good number of left overs courtesy of the previous week’s cooking. OK – Friday night was all about popcorn and movies (“Pretty Woman“ just never gets old). Saturday? For the life of me, I don’t remember eating other than it was a late, late lunch – early dinner and I believe I turned left-over pork loin into a pork-salad loaded into a pita. enough with the vague memory and on to the current cooking.

Process: stupid easy! place the salmon on a rack in the pressure cooker and add the 1/2 cup of water and dash of tamari. Close the lid and start the cooking! Once its up to pressure – lower the heat as low as you can go and set the timer for 6 minutes. Use a cold water pressure release. Remove the fish when the pressure is off – it tried to fall apart on me, so I just lifted out the rack, fish and all. Return the pan to the heat and add the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil to reduce the liquid. The mushrooms will be done by the time the sauce thickens up.

Plated the fish on a bed of spinach – poured the hot sauce over both and topped with some left over beets (FINALLY – the beets were ready to eat) … not too many beets or they will overwhelm the delicate fish.

Tonight — 15-BEANS UNDER PRESSURE – more complicated. OK, actually not yet done … but you see that below:

First – at least 4 hours of soaking – I opted for almost 24 hours soaking in the fridge. (Soaking is important for reduction of the side-effects many suffer from beans … ‘nuf said, just do it.) Drain and rinse the beans under cold water, discarding any shells or floating objects. Rummage through the freezer for any pre-made stock. In the pressure cooker, saute some onions, celery, peppers & any other aromatics you want to add in oil or butter. NO SALT or ACIDITY AT THIS POINT! The onion cooking takes a little watching and stirring – if there are brown bits forming on the bottom, add a little water and deglaze the bottom. Once the onions are translucent (go darker if you want an earthier flavor) add the beans, 1 to 2 tablespoons of butter (keeps the foam down – use bacon fat or another fat if you choose), add the stock — have at least 2 inches of liquid above the level of the beans, I added water to reach the desired level. Fill no more than 1/2 full. Put on the heat – once pressure is reached – turn the heat as low as you can while keeping pressure and set the timer to 12 to 16 minutes. At our elevation – I picked 15. Remove from heat at the “DING” and allow the pressure to release by the natural method. Don’t know how these will taste yet – took forever for the pressure to dissipate – I ate a pimento cheese pita sandwich for dinner. I’ll report on the beans tomorrow.UPDATE: Beans = Awesome. No salt in the cooking. Perfect as a starter for soup or as a stand alone. Freezer bags already filled.

John’s in Kathmandu now – still quiet around here, but I am quickly getting used to that. A weekend and Monday without Football! Oh yeah! … oops.

Share this:

Like this:

LikeLoading...

Author: Lizzardlaw

Lawyer - Partner - Mentor - Life-long Learner
I am working to develop new tools and strategies to exceed personal and professional goals. Now that I am past the 50 year mark - much of what used to work is no longer effective. Future goals involve finances to ensure a sustained retirement, personal health to enjoy that retirement and to be able to assist my parents and partner, and discretionary time to do and enjoy the abundance surrounding us.
View all posts by Lizzardlaw